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Theodore Roosevelt

1858–1880: Early Life

1884–1887: Adventuring in the West

During his junior year at Harvard, Teddy met and fell
in love with Alice Hathaway Lee. The daughter of a prominent Bostonian
and the cousin of one of Teddy's classmates, Alice quickly captured
his heart. With golden curly hair, blue eyes, cute face, and charming wit,
many young men fell for her, and it took Teddy a considerable amount
of time and energy to win her heart. Rather than study, he spent
many afternoons riding his horse or even walking the six miles from
Harvard to her house on Chestnut Hill. They often took lengthy walks
and carriage rides together, read poetry to each other, and played
board games. At the end of his junior year, he proposed marriage,
but she neglected to answer. Nevertheless, Teddy continued to pursue
Alice; in fact, he spent so much time with her that his grades
dropped considerably during his senior year. Finally, after eight
months he proposed again. This time she gladly accepted. On October
27, 1880, Teddy's twenty-second birthday, the two were married.
Deeply in love, the couple moved to New York City to live on the
third floor of the Roosevelt family residence.

Unsure what career to pursue upon graduation and unwilling
to take over the family business, Teddy decided to study law, a
subject that had always intrigued him. He also continued working
on his first book, A History of the Naval War of 1812,
which he had begun while still at Harvard. He enrolled at Columbia
Law School in 1880, but within two years became disillusioned with
the drudgery of the work. Although he continued to live blissfully
with Alice, he desired something more and, against the wishes of
his family and friends, entered politics. During this period in
New York City, local politics was a rough profession. Powerful
politicians known as "bosses" ran political machines and controlled
the majority of local elections, winning votes from New Yorkers
via coercion, extortion, and the threat of violence. One of the
most notorious of these machines was Tammany Hall. The conservative,
young Roosevelt began frequenting the headquarters of the local
Republican machine, Morton Hall. He made friends quickly and soon
found himself running for a seat representing the twenty-first
district in the New York State Assembly. He beat the opposing Tammany
candidate easily. At this point Roosevelt was only twenty-three
years old.

Roosevelt's first term as an assemblyman began in January
1882, and he immediately distinguished himself from the other representatives.
With his Harvard upbringing, dress, confidence, and especially
his young age, many of the older lawmakers quickly branded him
a "dude." At the same time, however, he also demonstrated an unexpected
earnestness and competency. Within just a few weeks of his first
term, Roosevelt denounced New York Supreme Court Judge Theodore
Westbrook as a co-conspirator in a recent railroad investment scandal
that had destroyed the livelihood of many legitimate investors.
The shocked assembly tried to sidestep Roosevelt's request for
an investigation, but he outmaneuvered them and won the right to
investigate. No charges were brought against the judge, but Roosevelt
won fame as an unconventional politician willing to defy the powerful
in the pursuit of justice. Later in the year, he also challenged
the excessive power of the political machines and introduced a
bill in the assembly that would alter the way local elections were
conducted. For this reason, conservative Republicans shunned Roosevelt,
but he received wide approval from the press and became famous
throughout New York.

Within a year of entering public life Roosevelt had established
a style of his own that he retained throughout his life. He was
a reformer. He challenged convention to achieve what he believed
to be morally right. He handled controversy well, a trait essential
for someone with his thirst for quick action. His second year in
the legislature brought even more success. Although the Democrats
held a majority of the membership, the Republicans nominated Roosevelt for
the assembly speakership, which instantly elevated him to the position
of Republican minority leader within the assembly. He continued
to seek reforms that would improve the lives of average New Yorkers.
He sought legislation to establish a park in the city and to toughen
penalties for men who abused women and children. He also continued
to strive towards machine-election reform. He earned a reputation
as a bipartisan cooperator when he worked with Democratic New York
Governor Grover Cleveland to reform the spoils system within the
state civil service commission.

Riding on his success, Roosevelt was elected to a third
term. During this election year, the Republicans had done well
at the polls and became the majority party in the New York State
Assembly. Roosevelt expected to be named Speaker; however, his
hopes were unexpectedly dashed by a coalition of conservative Republicans and
lobbyists who united to select a more conservative Speaker.

By this time Alice was very pregnant and about to deliver
their first child. On February 12, 1884, while Theodore was away
at the assembly in Albany, Alice delivered a baby girl. A telegram
was sent to Albany, and congratulatory cheers filled the assembly
hall. Within hours, however, a second telegram arrived, this time instructing
Roosevelt to return home immediately to tend to Alice, who had
suddenly become very ill. Theodore rushed home and arrived in time
to find Alice dying from kidney failure, an unforeseen complication
of the pregnancy. She died the morning of February 14, 1884. Tragically,
Theodore's mother had died just hours before, on the same day and
in the same house. Theodore was with both of them during their
last hours.

The only good news of the day was that Theodore's new
daughter, baby Alice Roosevelt, was alive and healthy. This provided
little consolation for him, however. The death of both his mother
and of his love, Alice, crushed him. For the rest of his life,
Theodore refused to speak of her, and sent baby Alice to live with
his sister Anna where she remained for the next three years. He
completed his third term in the New York Assembly, then left politics
and New York behind him to set out West.